Shirl:
Bad pilots and bad maintenance exist, sure ... but accidents can and do
occur in the most meticulously maintained aircraft flown by
"extraordinarily safe" pilots too. You shouldn't make any assumptions
about pilots or maintenance every time there is a crash.

Mxsmanic wrote:
I'm just going by the numbers. Random, unavoidable mechanical or other
failures are quite rare as causes of accidents, even in GA aircraft.

Not as rare as you assume.

Most accidents are avoidable, either with a better pilot
or a more carefully maintained aircraft, or both.

There are PLENTY of carefully maintained aircraft that have problems and
failures, some resulting in accidents and some not. The concept you
aren't understanding is that mechanical failure is not necessarily an
indication of poor/careless/inadequate maintenance, and in fact, more
frequently than you believe, things go wrong even on airplanes that are
vigilantly maintained. Bottom line, even though you and your mechanic do
everything humanly possible, there is simply no way to assure an
aircraft isn't going to have a problem.